Island Press Field Notes

Around the world, countries marvel at the Netherland’s impressive cycling culture and infrastructure while an insidious “that would never work here” attitude prevents real change from happening. But the Dutch overcame many of the same challenges as other...

By 2050 we will have ten billion mouths to feed in a world profoundly altered by environmental change. How we meet this challenge will be the difference between food abundance and shortage, environmental preservation or destruction, and even life and...

For decades, collaborative design has helped enliven neighborhoods and promote racial, economic, and social justice. But in an era marked by climate change, growing income inequality, and major advances in technology, designers are acknowledging the...

Cities across the globe have been designed with a primary goal of moving people around quickly—and the costs are becoming ever more apparent. The consequences are measured in smoggy air basins, sprawling suburbs, a failure to stem traffic congestion, and...

Resilience is often conflated with climate change adaptation and infrastructure, but this oversimplification may be limiting our ability to overcome the complex challenges facing our global community. The failure of international efforts to surmount...

Excess asphalt contributes to stormwater runoff, which can carry pollutants into water bodies and overwhelm sewer systems. As more and more cities reclaim street space for human life and habitat and enact far-reaching plans to address climate change,...

A growing energy footprint requires careful thought about our world’s energy mix, but even a renewable energy future is not necessarily a green one. Many renewable energy sources have a large footprint which can threaten biodiversity and conservation....

Bugs and germs are big problems—and they’re evolving. Each year, 2,300 people in the U.S. die from drug-resistant bacterial infections and farmers lose billions of dollars of crops to insects that evade pesticides. But there is reason for hope. In the...